The day and a half I spent without power post Hurricane Hermine was an excellent excuse to plow through some graphic novels. And I did enjoy those I read, but it doesn’t really make sense to write long reviews of each volume. If you aren’t reading the comic, you probably don’t care, and if you are, you probably already know whether you want the next volume.

The Walking Dead vol. 26: Call To Arms by Robert Kirkman

Alexandria et al. continue to roil in the aftermath of the attack by the Whisperers, with a seemingly inevitable, bloody showdown on the horizon. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t a couple jaw-dropping twists in this volume. And where I found Rick’s reaction in Volume 25 grating, here his actions are both interesting and understandable, if not entirely admirable. (Oh, and that new group you probably forgot about from two or three volumes ago shows back up. No, they don’t do anything interesting.)

4/5 Stars.

Ms. Marvel vol. 5: Super Famous by G. Willow Wilson

Ms. Marvel is at its best as a family drama. But for the first time, Ms. Marvel dovetails Kamala’s personal struggles with really effective action sequences. Kamala is dealing with her brother’s impending nuptials and Bruno getting a girlfriend at the same time she’s struggling to keep up as a newly minted member of the Avengers (presumably there is plenty missing here that in instead in Avengers comics). How rare is it for a comic to suggest that a superhero can’t have it all?

Unfortunately the art is once again maddeningly uneven.

4.5/5 Stars.

Rat Queens vol. 3: Demons by Kurtis J. Wiebe

The Rat Queens are back! Unfortunately this volume is Hannah-centric, and she remains the least interesting member of the Rat Queens. Rat Queens has a new artist. The quality remains high, and even if the art is obviously different from that of the first two volumes, it isn’t jarring.

3.5/5 Stars.

Star Wars: Darth Vader vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War by Kieron Gillen

As advertised, volume 3 covers the short Shu-Torun War. It makes for some cool set-pieces, but my favorite part of this series has always been Aphra and she is sadly absent.

3/5 Stars.

Lesbian Zombies from Outer Space by Jave Galt-Miller

I never would have wound up reading such a thing, but Galt-Miller happened to send me a very well written pitch right before I got stuck on the tarmac at the Abilene airport for an extended period of time (I wasn’t traveling to or from Abilene, mind you, I just got stuck there). It is exactly what you might expect, sort of Zombie Nation meets Sex Criminals, but better than the sum of its parts or either of those, and a quite fun read.